Confessions of a Casting Director

by Jen Rudin

  AUDITION STORIES

  * * *

  The Good and the Bad

  I was called in to audition for the role of Chloe in Maine’s Public Theatre production of The 13th of Paris. I was ready for regional! I had the perfect outfit and French accent (both of which I had used the previous Halloween when I randomly decided to be a French flight attendant). I had French music on my iPod to get me in the zone, and I felt emotionally prepared to play Chloe’s heart-wrenching final scene. (Lost love! Tears! Suicide!) The director told me when I later got the role that she chose me because unlike the other women who had tried out, I was able to set aside jaded American notions of love. Not sure how I pulled that off, but nevertheless, SUCCESS!

  And now for an epic fail: I auditioned for a casting director without having read the play from which the provided sides came. It was a comedy, but I somehow thought it was a drama and played it as such. The casting director asked me why I had wasted her time and my money. I left distraught. I immediately bought the play and read it on a park bench while crying.

  —LIZ DAYS

  When You’re Asked to Self-Tape

  Thanks to technology, actors now have the ability to send in self-tapes for auditions. Anyone with a decent digital camera or iPhone can tape an audition. The self-tape often replaces the in-person interview and is your first step in auditioning for a role. Virtual casting has become a very viable option for casting directors to conduct auditions and talent searches across the country and world. It’s great for large searches and lets an actor in Virginia participate without having to travel. On the flip side, the competition is fierce, since everyone can compete and call themselves a professional actor. Just because you can make a beautiful audition tape does not mean you’ll get the part. You still need to be a good actor. Advances in technology can’t mask bad acting.

  SELF-TAPE DOS AND DON’TS

  DO introduce yourself on camera, stating your name and hometown.

  DO memorize your lines, just as you would for an in-person audition.

  DO purchase a tripod. They’re very affordable these days. (Check out the many options available on Amazon.)

  DO tape your audition against a solid-color wall or sheet, preferably not a wrinkled one, or consider purchasing a color backdrop. Check Amazon for an inexpensive color backdrop.

  DO make sure the person reading with you keeps their volume low and acting to a minimum so as not to upstage your audition.

  DO keep the pace up in your scenes. Since you are essentially directing yourself, you’ll need to focus on making sure your preparation and pacing are in keeping with the script’s tone.

  DO upload your audition video using a site like Hightail.com (formerly YouSendIt), Vimeo, YouTube, or Dropbox. All are easy to use and either are free or charge minimal fees.

  DON’T tape in a dark corner or in your bathroom. Make sure you have plenty of light.

  DON’T send multiple takes of each scene, unless requested by the casting office. Send your best take.

  DON’T fumble through your script. Know your lines before you tape.

  * * *

  There are no excuses for mediocrity, whether you’re in the audition room or sending in a self-taped submission. Remember, you’re a professional actor and your tape should reflect this!

  * * *

  AGENT’S

  CORNER

  * * *

  How has technology changed in your years as an agent?

  The biggest change is self-tapes. Miley Cyrus taped several times from Tennessee for Hannah Montana. In the beginning we had to FedEx tapes, which cost about twenty dollars each to send. That became unviable after a while. Sending tapes via e-mail leveled the playing field. Today we spend a large part of every day taping actors at our office, or having the actor tape at home and e-mail to us. It’s extended the market of where an agent can find and work with actors. You can find a great actor in Miami, Denver, or Chicago, and they don’t have to move to L.A. Now people are doing tapings in their basements.

  —MITCHELL GOSSETT,

  senior vice president at CESD Talent Agency in New York and Los Angeles

  How to Navigate Facebook and Other Social Media

  I had lunch with a partner at a talent agency a few years ago. We started to chat about technology and how it’s affected our business. We both lamented how our professional boundaries were challenged when we opened up our own Facebook profiles. While I griped about actors instant-messaging me on Facebook outside of regular office hours, he shared the following story about one of his clients:

  One day, this particular actor updated his Facebook status to: “I FINALLY have a commercial audition after months with nothing. Glad my agents are finally working for me :)” The status came up in the agent’s feed. He called the client and immediately terminated his contract. The actor was shocked. He’d meant the comment as a joke. However, the agent didn’t see the status as a joke at all. He sent out an e-mail to the agency’s entire client list, cautioning everyone to treat their Facebook posts professionally and cautiously.

  It doesn’t matter what the intent was when you tweeted or updated Facebook. It’s the impact of the comment that counts. So even though this particular actor thought he was making a funny, casual status update about how happy he was to finally have an audition, the impact was far worse. He insinuated that the agency wasn’t working for him. The story ended with the loss of his representation.

  AUDITION STORIES

  EPIC SUCCESS

  * * *

  Last-minute voice-over auditions happen all the time, and I always make sure I have my microphone with me. I was waiting for a flight at Miami International Airport when my agent called with a last-minute voice-over audition. I ducked into the women’s room and set up my microphone and laptop on the changing table in the family bathroom. I recorded the audition, but had to edit out every time someone knocked on the door and I shouted “Someone’s in here!”

  —JESSICA DICICCIO

  TECHNOLOGY DOS AND DON’TS

  DO use technology to educate yourself. Subscribe to daily feeds from www.deadline.com to keep up. Visit websites like www.imdb.com, www.playbill.com, www.broadwayworld.com, www.backstage.com, and others to keep up to date on what’s casting and what’s in production.

  DO use your social networking sites for social networking. For instance, make a Facebook page for a play you’re in. List the ticket information and other details on the page. Then invite your two thousand Facebook friends to attend.

  DO use your regular e-mail address to send a regular e-mail message (not Facebook) to invite agents, managers, and casting directors to see your work.

  DO use social media in positive ways to share good news: post your fantastic theater and film reviews on all your sites.

  DO like the official pages for Jen Rudin Casting on Facebook and other businesses. There’s a reason we have separate pages for our businesses, so like as many pages as you want. I often post on the Jen Rudin Casting page what roles I’m casting, if I need audition readers, and more.

  DO think of your Facebook wall like the public bathroom wall in junior high school. One day in eighth grade, a friend turned on me and wrote a really mean comment about me on the bathroom wall. I’ll never forget how hurt I was and how two-faced she was. The Internet is a public and scary place. Anything you post can be reposted, retweeted, and forwarded in less than one second.

  DO connect with other entertainment professionals on LinkedIn.

  DON’T stalk, instant message, or e-mail an agent, manager, or casting director on Facebook. If they’ve given you a business card, it will list their work e-mail. Facebook is for friends. I once got IM’d by an actor on Facebook at 6:30 A.M. Respect my privacy and I’ll respect yours.

  DON’T post your exciting casting news on any social networking feeds until it’s official and you’ve signed the contract. It’s a good idea to ask the producer or company manager when you can officially announce your news.

 
; DON’T post photos of your bachelor party in Vegas or other “crazy” nights.

  DON’T post sarcastic or humorous comments about your fellow cast members. Not to sound like Mister Rogers here, but sometimes the ones we love the most are the ones we hurt the most. A comment that’s funny to you can hurt someone else’s feelings.

  DON’T text a casting director unless you’re a close personal friend of theirs.

  DON’T be a braggart or retweet any more than necessary. My favorite actors are the ones who have other interests besides acting. Having varied interests and passions shows us that you’re smart and interested in the greater world at large. So every once in a while, tweet or post an interesting article on a topic of interest. Reading the newspaper will help you to be well rounded and aware of the world, which will only make you a more interesting actor and a more informed human being!

  * * *

  JEN’S LAST WORD

  Use technology to connect and educate yourself but not as an excuse to disrespect professional boundaries. And power down every once in a while and treat yourself to a digital sabbatical. Remember that advances in technology and information are not a replacement for your own natural talent and charisma. That’s still up to you. There’s no app for instant talent, at least not at the time of this book’s publication.

  * * *

  CHAPTER TEN

  * * *

  STAGE MOMS

  HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AND AVOID MAMA DRAMA

  My mom was not a classic stage mom. Her motto to “never get excited until there’s a contract to sign” kept her practical, calm, and rational throughout my entire childhood acting career. She schlepped me to auditions and lessons and used the waiting time to work on her writing projects. I only saw her get excited on a few occasions. The first was in ninth grade, when I filmed an episode of Sesame Street.

  I’d auditioned for one role on the show and didn’t get cast. But the producers liked me (and my big purple glasses) so much that they created a character for me named Jennifer with Glasses. In my episode, Luis the fix-it man finds out he needs glasses. I take him to the eye doctor, then to the optometrist’s to pick out glasses. My parents were both so excited about Sesame Street that they argued about who would take me to the set. They compromised, and both took me. When we got to the set, they disappeared like excited kids in search of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Despite my professional child actress exterior, I was inwardly geeking out too. After I dutifully filmed my scenes, I also snuck off to explore. When I found Big Bird hanging from the ceiling, I was sad at first, and then remembered that he was not actually real.

  The second time I saw my mother have fun and enjoy being a “stage mom” was a few months later. I’d booked a TV movie and she accompanied me to Cincinnati for the shoot. The production offered each of us our own hotel suite, and my mother was thrilled to have such a large, quiet space to work on her novel. On the final night of the shoot, the cast and crew pulled an all-nighter filming at a mall in Florence, Kentucky. Around four thirty in the morning, I glanced over at my mother with the other moms. They were giddy and overtired, eating and smoking. At one point they were laughing so hysterically that one of the other mothers (not mine) actually fell backward in her chair. It’s one of my favorite memories of my mother and me having fun on set.

  My mother knew how much I loved acting and wanted to help make my dreams come true. But a professional acting career isn’t like signing up to join the local soccer team. There’s no set schedule for the season’s games. A child can audition hundreds of times before getting cast. Parents must be prepared to spend hours driving to auditions, parking, eating, and waiting. Add in the costs of food, tolls, gas, and parking and you see that it costs a lot of money to pursue dreams. Before anything, make sure your child is really passionate about performing and that this isn’t just something that you want for them.

  * * *

  STAGE MOMS’

  CORNER

  * * *

  What’s the best advice for a child who’s just starting out?

  “Bloom where you’re planted,” advises Denise Smoker, whose daughter Marissa played Jane Banks in Disney’s national tour of Mary Poppins. “Before you invest in classes and workshops in New York, investigate your local dance schools, vocal coaches, and community theater. If your child has an amazing experience in the Christmas show in your town, then you can consider expanding to New York, L.A., or Chicago for more training. Make sure the desire is real. Do shows close to home first so that you’re not making a huge financial and travel commitment. Marissa did years of theater at Hartford Stage and the Goodspeed Opera House, near our Connecticut home. I remember when she starred in a local production of The Secret Garden. My husband reached over after she sang her first solo, grabbed my hand, and whispered: “She’s really good! Now what?”

  So Smoker researched agents for her daughter. And two years later, Marissa got cast as Jane Banks on the Mary Poppins tour.

  Don’t Become a Momager

  We all know that the “stage mom” label has negative connotations. As a parent, you must try to stay calm. It’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement when your child begins to audition. Be careful not to slip into the role of “momager”—mom and manager. Don’t lose your perspective and become consumed with your child’s career. At a certain point as your child’s career progresses, I do recommend hiring a professional to be your child’s manager or agent, just as I hire a professional accountant to handle my taxes. Be a parent first to your child. Your relationship with your child is far more important than any career in show business.

  AUDITION STORIES

  EPIC FAIL

  * * *

  My epic fail of an audition was for A Christmas Story. I forgot to present my head shot first thing to the casting director. And when he asked me how old I was, I shouted “Thirteen!” Although he told my mom how fantastic I was, this view changed instantly when he learned my age; he worried that my voice was about to change. To top it all off, on the way back to our hotel my mom slipped and fell in the dreary New York City rain. She had to get twelve stitches on her knee.

  —CARL KIMBROUGH,

  age fourteen

  Finding an Agent or Manager for Your Child

  When researching agents and managers, get referrals from friends. Look up talent agencies in your city. Check their submission policies to see what you will need to send in. It’s easier for young actors than adults to get a meeting with an agent because talent agents specializing in youth are always looking for new clients. Kids grow and voices change. Yesterday’s nine-year-old is tomorrow’s thirteen-year-old approaching adolescence. Agents always need to keep their client files filled with smart, funny, and talented kids.

  * * *

  AGENT’S

  CORNER

  * * *

  What do you wish a young actor knew before they came to meet you?

  Personality is key. It’s really important that the child wants to do this and that the parents know that it’s called show business for a reason. Parents must commit to taking their children on auditions. Even though I want the children to have fun during this process, they need to know this is a job. They need to be focused and serious, yet know when to ham it up for the camera. I wish some of the children really understood why they are here to meet me, instead of saying, “My parents told me I had to come meet you.”

  —BONNIE SHUMOFSKY,

  Abrams Artists Agency

  Audition Advice for Kids and Their Parents

  I’ve auditioned so many children over the years, and children are either early or late for their appointment, but never on time. There’s a reason we gave you an appointment time. Try to arrive ten or fifteen minutes in advance of your time. Arrive snacked and ready to go. Don’t miss your appointment because you got stuck on the New Jersey Turnpike.

  AUDITION DOS AND DON’TS

  DO have your child go over their lines ahead of time, ideally with an audition coach. If y
ou can’t meet with an audition coach, please go over the lines with them, but don’t offer your own acting coaching, unless you happen to be a professional actor.

  DO have your child read out loud EVERY DAY for at least fifteen minutes. Turn off the video games and read a chapter out loud every night. I’ve called agents many times to tell them that their client can’t read or may be dyslexic. Believe me, everyone is embarrassed. This situation can easily be avoided. If your child isn’t reading out loud for fifteen minutes a day, another child somewhere else is.

  DO blow your child’s nose (if necessary) before they come into the audition room. I’ve stopped the camera on more than one occasion and brought the parent into the audition room to take care of this.

  DO stop auditioning if your child’s not having fun. Children may return to acting in high school or college if they rediscover their passion for it, but don’t force them to continue doing something they don’t want to do. It’s not worth it if your child ends up resenting you!

  DON’T bring an entourage (or extra relatives) with you. Leave the little ones at home, as strollers can add extra chaos to an already crowded waiting room.

  DON’T hover near the sign-in sheet. Sign in, sit down, and wait patiently for your child’s turn.